POSTHUMOUSLY  AWARDED  SILVER  STAR

Excerpts from front page newspaper article published in San Diego Union-Tribune on March 15, 2013:

SGT Wade D. Wilson didn’t flinch last May when an insurgent began firing an AK-47 at him and four of his fellow Marines in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.  Wilson immediately grabbed a pistol, exited an armored vehicle charged at the man and shot back.  His actions led to his being fatally wounded, but in the process Wilson forced the insurgent to retreat and saved his friends’ lives.  For his bravery, Wilson was posthumously awarded the Silver Star during a ceremony at Camp Pendleton.  “The average man would seek cover to protect his own life,” said LTCOL Tim Bairstow, Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines.  “But SGT Wilson was not an average man, nor was he an average Marine.”

A native of Centerville, Texas, Wilson joined the Marine Corps straight out of high school, where he captained the football team as a running back and safety and ran track, said his childhood friend and fellow Marine 2NDLT Corey Boudiette.  “Wilson had a wild and rambunctious personality, was extremely intelligent, a great student and had a strong sense of humor,” Boudiette said.  “Wilson loved anything to do with the outdoors.  He was into working on cars and trucks, riding dirt bikes and fishing.  He definitely was not your average individual,” Boudiette said.  “He was a little more crazy than most.  But when it came down to brass tax, he was diligent when it came to his job.”

Wilson trained at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego in 2007, and he reported to his final unit, 2nd Batallion, 5th Marines, on August 1, 2011.  MAJGEN Ronald Bailey, the Commanding Officer of 1st Marine Division, attended Thursday’s 20-minute ceremony along with the 5th Marines Regimental Commander, COL Roger Easterling, who presented the Silver Star to Wilson’s mother.  “His courage stands out,” Bailey said. “Selfless sacrifice. There were many others that he saved.  There were four Marines around that vehicle, and because of his actions they’re here today.  “In the Marines, we talk about taking care of your own.  Because of his actions, he was able to save those Marines in his vehicle.  It was a true reflection of taking care of your own.”  Wilson was a revered and fearless leader, said several of those in attendance.  He had been promoted ahead of his peers three times, and he had been recommended for yet another upgrade before he was killed, Bairstow said.  Wilson was participating in his third deployment last May when his company was called upon to clear a section of Helmand Province of insurgent leaders and weapons.  He served as the platoon sergeant with 3rd Platoon, Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 6, 1st Marine Division, when the armored vehicle he was in was damaged by an improvised explosive device.  An Afghan insurgent posing as a civilian near the scene in Musa Qal’eh District retrieved an AK-47 from a poppy field and opened fire on the Marines in the vehicle, according to Wilson’s Silver Star citation.  The insurgent critically wounded one Marine inside the vehicle before Wilson drew his M9 pistol and confronted the man.  Sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, he continued moving against the enemy until falling mortally wounded,” the citation reads.  The insurgent, meanwhile, fled in the direction of other Marines, who killed him.  “A fellow’s natural instincts when he gets shot at is to seek his own self-preservation,” said LTCOL Jason Perry, the Battalion Commander at the time of Wilson’s deployment.  “For whatever reason, he decided to move toward the threat and got killed.  It is selflessness on a scale that few of us will understand, including myself.”

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)